October 13, 2016

Trump backstage activity in ‘97 exaggerated, says former Miss Teen NM

Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump reportedly showed up backstage before a teen beauty pageant in 1997, while at least some contestants were still getting dressed.

Courtesy Victoria Hughes

Victoria Hughes, owner of the Mrs. U.S. Universal contest

A former Miss Teen New Mexico contestant that year confirmed that Trump made his way backstage at the Miss Teen USA pageant, but told NM Political Report that some reports of his actions have been exaggerated.

Victoria Hughes, Miss Teen New Mexico in 1997, said she remembers chaperones “saying that we had a visitor and to get covered up,” but stopped short of accusing Trump of inappropriate behavior.

“While I do not support Donald Trump, stories about him barging in on teenage girls is not correct,” Hughes wrote in an email to NM Political Report. “Our chaperones would never have allowed that to happen, and no one, not even Donald, deserves to be lied about in this way.”

Other contestants from the same pageant told Buzzfeed they remember Trump going backstage before they were fully dressed. One contestant reportedly recalled his presence backstage as “creepy” and “shocking.”

Trump owned both the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants at the time. He sold the pageants last year after a backlash to remarks he made about Mexicans when he launched his campaign.

In her email, Hughes said she was the oldest contestant that year in South Padre Island, Texas and remembers being in the back of the dressing room when “the black curtains opened and in walks Mr. Trump smiling.”

She admitted that she was surprised to see him at that specific moment.

“As teenagers, it no doubt caught us off guard, as the timing of the introduction could’ve been better and less awkward for us all,” Hughes wrote.

Hughes now runs her own pageant, Mrs. US Universal, and said as a business owner “integrity and character is everything.”

“I’m not going to stand by and let somebody else say these things,” Hughes told NM Political Report in a brief phone interview.

NM Political Report reached out to the New Mexico Trump campaign through a spokesman for the Republican Party of New Mexico for a comment. We will update this post if they respond.

Trump’s campaign took a hit in the past week after leaked audio from 2005 showed him boasting to then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush about how he “just start[s] kissing” women.

“And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything,” Trump said in the audio. “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

CNN also recently released audio from an interview with Howard Stern where Trump talked about going backstage at pageants he owned.

“Well, I’ll tell you the funniest is that before a show, I’ll go backstage and everyone’s getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere, and I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant and therefore I’m inspecting it,” Trump told Stern.

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New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Wednesday a slight easing of COVID-19 restrictions, while also announcing some increased restrictions as of Saturday, May 16.
While Lujan Grisham said the state would start allowing retailers and some other businesses to open to the public with capacity limitations, she also said the new public health emergency order will require everyone in the state to wear a face and nose covering when in public spaces.
She said many businesses, with the exception of entertainment businesses like movie theaters, could open this weekend as long as they keep their capacity at 25 percent of what the fire code allows. She said those businesses must also continue to take certain precautions against spreading COVID-19.
Large retail “box” stores would have their capacity capped at 20 percent.

On Thursday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said racism is a “public health emergency” and that she would make examining government policies with institutionalized racism in mind “the center of my administration.”
She announced the formation of the Council for Racial Justice, which will be comprised of several African American community leaders, and she will appoint a racial justice czar. The council will include state Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton, a Democrat from Albuquerque, NM Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs Director Alexandria Taylor and the Reverend Donna Maria Davis of the Grant Chapel AME Church, along with others.

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A day after state health officials announced the highest single-day number of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, they announced 129 additional confirmed cases and five additional deaths related to the disease.

State Human Services Department Secretary Dr. David Scrase offered some data supporting the use of masks and social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The use of face masks in public has become a polarizing topic among some communities as the state has loosened its restrictions on businesses, including closures, over the last week.
While cloth masks aren’t suitable for use in healthcare settings, Scrase said they are still useful at preventing the spread of the illness among the general public.

Public health orders restricting some businesses and public gatherings are slowly being lifted, but the New Mexico Supreme Court’s restrictions on eviction proceedings and limitations on civil cases in general are still in place.